The Dark Knight Rises wowed moviegoers this summer, concluding Director Christopher Nolan's Bat-trilogy with all the large-scale action they had come to expect from the franchise. Now, the Blu-ray has arrived, and while it gives a chance for fans to relive the comic book movie over and over, even more importantly, it pulls back the curtain on Nolan's risky filmmaking style.
Nolan doesn't make his movies like anyone else in Hollywood. He shoots large (much of the film was shot on IMAX and although a TV can't mirror it, the picture is significantly crisper than any other blockbuster) and he shoots practically, striving for realism even in the most ridiculous of stunts. We checked out the special features to give you a taste of what the Rises Blu reveals. We walked away being even more impressed than we were before:
Down Below!
Nolan is all about reality, so to pull off a mindblowing stunt that would up the ante from The Dark Knight, the director and his crew traveled to Scotland for the opening's spectacular plane sequence. "You search the world, where you can drop pieces of an airplane to the ground," Assistant Director Nilo Otero says in the special features. "It's not as easy as you think." Typically action movies head to barren deserts to let loose massive pieces of explosion debris, but the Rises production obtained permission to drop the body of an action C-130 airplane down into the green lands of Scotland. Working with Stunt Coordinator Tom Struthers, the film also had actual stunt men dangling from in sky as they made their way down to the C-130. VFX were used to meld it together, but amazingly, the pieces are all real.
Bringing Batman to the Sky
For Dark Knight Rises Nolan wanted to add a new vehicle to Batman's arsenal, but one that would still be able to fit in the world he created. Thus, the creation of The Bat, a plane modeled off the design of the Batmobile, that Nolan and his crew were able to pull off practically to a surprising degree. While computer graphics were necessary to create the illusion The Bat could zoom through the high rises of Gotham, stuntmen on the film built a variety of lifts that allowed the vehicle to move on its own. When The Bat is sailing through the streets, it's actually sailing through the streets, held up by two cranes and a thick cable. For the final chase scene, The Bat was lifted by a truck (later painted out of the frame) that allowed it to shift back and forth in the sky. It couldn't actually take flight on its own, but The Bat you see is no illusion.
Blasting into Wayne Enterprises
Here's a big bit of multi-step movie magic: to pull off Bane's break-in to Bruce Wayne's Applied Sciences stash, effects artists had to piece together three separate elements. One was Bane's Lair: a full scale set that reached 100 ft. tall. The one flaw of the set? It had no roof. So when it came time to blast open the top and drop a full sized Tumbler into the ground, effects had to be used (but don't worry, Tumblers were definitely destroyed). They first dropped a Tumbler in the Bane Lair set. Then they filmed the same scene with a replicated, miniature version of the set — this time with a roof! Then, stunt performers were filmed in front of a green screen, later added to appear as if they were dangling from the miniature set. Hours and hours of painstaking computer wizardry later, and we have a heck of an explosion.
The Sharks vs. The Jets Times a Thousand
Along with wanting everything to be shot in camera, Nolan also attempts to take his cues from films of yesteryears. "Looking back to the silent era of motion pictures. Those guys knew how to create production value and scale from the human element. Crowds of people."
Under that mantra, Nolan set out to assemble an impossibly large cast of extras for his final fight scene. Set in the streets of New York, over a thousand men and women were employed to fill the giant IMAX frames and duke it out behind Batman and Bane. And every person had to be choreographed to protect them from actually being injured during the fight. As Otero notes on the Blu-ray, a person can't just show up to set and do a stunt. Many of the extras fall into the pavement in the initial rampage, with the other 999 extras following right behind them.
The most shocking bit of savvy editing in the sequence is a scene where Bane kicks Batman onto a set of stairs. The first half of the scene is filmed in NYC, where the extras are duking it out. But with a swift kick, Bane sends Batman flying to... Carnegie Melon University? That's right: the steps are in a whole other location. Matching the lighting was reportedly a nightmare, but the transition is flawless.
The Trilogy's Grand Finale
To send The Dark Knight trilogy out with a bang, Nolan converged two of the great action tropes into his final set piece: the ticking time bomb and the chase. The sequence has a ton of moving parts, from three Tumblers with modified guns, The Bat swooping in to pursue the reactor bomb, Catwoman constantly dodging debris on Batman's two-wheeler, and of course, an enormous truck that smashes through concrete to a lower level of road. The last act was one of the toughest for the production, but through an intricate set of rails and coordinated stunt driving, the team sent a full-sized auto crashing through stone.
For a slew of behind-the-scenes details, check out The Dark Knight Rises on Blu-ray, which is available now.
[Photo Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures]
Follow Matt Patches on Twitter @misterpatches
More:
'The Dark Knight Rises' Oscar Potential: Is It a Best Picture Contender?
Poor Bane! Details of 'The Dark Knight Rises' Scene You Didn't See
Unreleased 'Dark Knight Rises' Posters: You Have Our Permission to Geek Out
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While recent animated blockbusters have aimed to viewers of all ages starting with fantastical concepts and breathtaking visuals but tackling complex emotional issues along the way Ice Age: Continental Drift is crafted especially for the wee ones — and it works. Venturing back to prehistoric times once again the fourth Ice Age film paints broad strokes on the theme of familial relationships throwing in plenty of physical comedy along the way. The movie isn't that far off from one of the many Land Before Time direct-to-video sequels: not particularly innovative or necessary but harmless thrilling fun for anyone with a sense of humor. Unless they have a particular distaste for wooly mammoths the kids will love it.
Ice Age: Continental Drift continues to snowball its cartoon roster bringing back the original film's trio (Ray Romano as Manny the Mammoth Denis Leary as Diego the Sabertooth Tiger and John Leguizamo as Sid the Sloth) new faces acquired over the course of the franchise (Queen Latifah as Manny's wife Ellie) and a handful of new characters to spice things up everyone from Nicki Minaj as Manny's daughter Steffie to Wanda Sykes as Sid's wily grandma. The whole gang is living a pleasant existence as a herd with Manny's biggest problem being playing overbearing dad to the rebellious daughter. Teen mammoths they always want to go out and play by the waterfall! Whippersnappers.
The main thrust of the film comes when Scratch the Rat (whose silent comedy routines in the vein of Tex Avery/WB cartoons continue to be the series highlight) accidentally cracks the singular continent Pangea into the world we know today. Manny Diego and Sid find themselves stranded on an iceberg once again forced on a road trip journey of survival. The rest of the herd embarks to meet them giving Steffie time to realize the true meaning of friendship with help from her mole pal Louis (Josh Gad).
The ham-handed lessons may drag for those who've passed Kindergarten but Ice Age: Continental Drift is a lot of fun when the main gang crosses paths with a group of villainous pirates. (Back then monkeys rabbits and seals were hitting the high seas together pillaging via boat-shaped icebergs. Obviously.) Quickly Ice Age becomes an old school pirate adventure complete with maritime navigation buried treasure and sword fights. Gut (Peter Dinklage) an evil ape with a deadly... fingernail leads the evil-doers who pose an entertaining threat for the familiar bunch. Jennifer Lopez pops by as Gut's second-in-command Shira the White Tiger and the film's two cats have a chase scene that should rouse even the most apathetic adults. Hearing Dinklage (of Game of Thrones fame) belt out a pirate shanty may be worth the price of admission alone.
With solid action (that doesn't need the 3D addition) cartoony animation and gags out the wazoo Ice Age: Continental Drift is entertainment to enjoy with the whole family. Revelatory? Not quite. Until we get a feature length silent film of Scratch's acorn pursuit we may never see a "classic" Ice Age film but Continental Drift keeps it together long enough to tell a simple story with delightful flare that should hold attention spans of any length. Massive amounts of sugar not even required.
[Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox]

Sir Elton John, Bruno Mars and Jennifer Hudson were among the famous faces who performed at a benefit concert at Manhattan's Carnegie Hall to raise money for Sting's Rainforest Fund, and after the show, a charity auction took place at The Pierre hotel.
Sting took to the auctioneer's podium himself to sell off tickets to one of his upcoming gigs for $23,000 (£14,375), but his total was trumped by Hanks, who personally sold off a voicemail message.
He offered to leave a message for the winning bidder in the style of one of his famous characters, either Forrest Gump or Toy Story's Woody, telling the audience, "I'll do your whole menu. Press 1 for Parts and Service! Press 2 for Speedy Delivery!"
His sales pitch worked and the lot went for $26,000 (£16,250), according to New York Post gossip column Page Six.
Guests at the action included Sir Elton John, Aretha Franklin, Jennifer Hudson, Bruno Mars and former U.S. President Bill Clinton.